The Panthers thus put an end to the hopes of the Oilers, who had begun an improbable comeback after losing the first three games of the final to force a final meeting.
“It’s not what I thought,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said. It’s so much better.”
“It’s heavy,” Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov said after his victory lap on the ice with the trophy.
The Alberta team was trying to lift the silver bowl for the first time since 1990. It would have at the same time put an end to the drought of Canadian teams, while the Montreal Canadiens remain the last team north of the frontier to have been crowned champion. It was in 1993.
Carter Verhaeghe (23) celebrates his goal with his teammate Anton Lundell (15). (Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press)
The Panthers scored the first goal in this game, courtesy of Carter Verhaeghe. Sam Reinhart also threaded the needle.
Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 22 pucks in front of the Panthers cage, who also participated in the 1996 and 2023 finals, won respectively by the Colorado Avalanche and the Vegas Golden Knights.
“It’s no longer a dream. It is not a dream. That’s the reality, said Panthers forward Matthew Tkachuk, who was traded to the Panthers two years ago. I can not believe it. I can not believe it.
“I can’t believe how good these two years have been. I’m so grateful to be with this group. It’s the best place, the best guys. It’s really special here, what we have.”
Maurice also won a fifth match number 7 on as many occasions. He won his first title after working behind the bench of an NHL team in 1,848 season games. Only Scotty Bowman has led more games.
Florida Panthers head coach Paul Maurice reacts during the second period of Game 7 of the NHL Hockey Stanley Cup Final against the Edmonton Oilers. (Rebecca Blackwell/AP)
Mattias Janmark scored for the Oilers, who had previously won all five games in which they faced elimination this year. Stuart Skinner stopped 19 pucks.
Used for 25 minutes 42 seconds, Connor McDavid was cleared from the scoresheet. His 42 points nevertheless constitute the fourth best performance for a year in the playoffs, behind Wayne Gretzky (47 points in 1985 and 43 points in 1988) and Mario Lemieux (44 points in 1991).
Edmonton Oilers goaltender Stuart Skinner (74) and forward Connor McDavid (97) react after losing to the Florida Panthers in Game 7 of the NHL Stanley Cup Finals in Sunrise, in Florida. (Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press)
A crucial first goal
It was the Panthers who opened the scoring even before five minutes had elapsed in the match. Verhaeghe cleverly deflected a shot from Evan Rodrigues at 4:27. It was his 11th goal of the series and his first since the first game of the final.
In front of a crowd including several Oilers fans, the Alberta team was quick to respond. Janmark scored his fourth of the playoffs when he escaped at 6:44. Cody Ceci served him a long pass in the sequence.
Oilers center Mattias Janmark (13) scores during the first period of the game Monday evening. (Rebecca Blackwell/AP)
It was a fourth career goal in a seventh game for Janmark. Only teammate Corey Perry has scored as many among active NHL players.
Perry lost a fourth final in five years with four different teams, after defeats with the Dallas Stars (2020), the Canadiens (2021) and the Lightning (2022).
Reinhart restored the lead to the local favorites at 15:11 of the second period. The forward was patient with the puck to the left of Skinner, who he thwarted with a wrist shot. Dmitry Kulikov started the sequence by clearing the puck in front of Bobrovsky’s net.
It was a 10th playoff goal and 67th of the season for Reinhart, who could become an unrestricted free agent next week.
-With the Associated Press
